Chapter 1 An Introduction to Linguistics

Chapter1InvitationtoLinguisticsAnIntroductiontoLinguisticsGeneraldescriptionIThiscourseisdesignedtoprovidestudentswithageneralpictureofthescopesoflinguistics,thescientificstudyoflanguage.Theobjectivesofthecoursesare•toprovidebasicunderstandingofthedisciplineoflinguistics;•tointroducetheessentialstructureoflanguageandhowthoseessentialsaffecthumanbeing’smanipulationoflanguageforvariouspurposes;•toencouragecriticalandactivethinkingskillswhenanalyzingvariouscommunicationpatterns.GeneraldescriptionIIThestudyoflinguisticknowledgeisdividedintoseveralareas:•thepropertiesofhumanlanguagethatmakeitunique;•thepropertiesofspeechsounds(phonetics),•thesystematicsoundpatternsoflanguage(phonology),•thegrammaticalstructureofwords(morphology),•thestructureofsentences(syntax),•themeaninganduseofwordsandsentences(semantics/pragmatics).•Thiscoursealsostudieshowlinguisticknowledgeisappliedinsocialsituationsindifferentcultures(sociolinguistics).•Studentsareexpectedtoattendlecturesfaithfully.Therewillbehomeassignments,amidtermpaper,andafinalexamination.Grading:•Dailyperformance15%•Mid-tempaper15%•Finalexam70%Chapter1InvitationtoLinguistics•Aboutlinguistics–Whatislinguistics?–Mainbranchesoflinguistics–Macrolinguistics–Importantdistinctionsinlinguistics•Aboutlanguage–Whatislanguage?–Designfeaturesoflanguage–FunctionsoflanguageWhatislinguistics?ScienceSubjectmatterchemistryhowsubstancescombinetoformothersubstancespsychologyhowindividualsbehavesociologyhowpeoplebehaveingroupsculturalanthropologyhowhumanculturesresembleanddifferfromeachotherlinguistics?Linguisticsanditsresearchscope(p16-p22)•Thescientificstudyoflanguageanditsmechanism–languagesinallthehumansocieties–asascience•Majorbranchesinlinguistics&Macro-linguistics–“It’scoldinhere.”Linguisticsasascience•Ascientificstudyisonewhichisbasedonthesystematicinvestigationofdata,conductedwithreferencetosomegeneraltheoryoflanguagestructure.•linguisticsdatacontainsintuitionandcorpus.---“It’scoldinhere.”•Speechsounds•Words•Sentence•Meaning•(text)•(Whatwillbeyourresponse?)---“It’scoldinhere.”•Whyandhowdopeopleuselanguageindifferentways?•Howdopeoplecomprehend,produceandacquirelanguage?•HowdoweusetheknowledgetofacilitateourEnglishlearning?•What’stherolecomputerplayinthisdiscipline?LinguisticsC2PhoneticsC2PhonologyC3MorphologyC4SyntaxC5SemanticC8pragmaticsPsycholinguisticsSociolinguisticsAnthropologicalLinguisticsAppliedLinguisticsComputationalLinguisticsLiterarystylisticsC6LanguageprocessinginmindC7LanguageCultureSocietyC9LanguageAndLiteratureC10LanguageandComputerC11LinguisticsAndFLTC1InvitationsLinguisticsC12TheoriesandSchoolsofML•(1)Phoneticsisthebranchoflinguisticswhichstudiestheproduction,thephysicalproperties,andtheperceptionofspeechsounds.•(2)Phonologystudiesthesoundpatternsoflanguage,therulesgoverningthestructure,distribution,andsequencingofspeechsoundsandtheshapesofsyllables.•Morphologystudiestheformofwords,theinternalorganizationofwords,andthesmallestmeaningfulunitsinalanguage---morphemes.•SyntaxisabouttheprinciplesofformingandunderstandingcorrectEnglishsentences.Theserulesspecifywordorder,sentenceorganization,andtherelationshipbetweenwords,wordclassesandothersentenceelements.•Semanticsstudieshowmeaningisencodedinalanguage.Itisconcernedwithmeaningsofwordsandthoseunitsbelowandabovewords.•Pragmaticsisthestudyofmeaningincontext.Itisconcernedwiththewaylanguageisusedtocommunicateratherthanwiththewaylanguageisstructured.Macro-linguisticsThestudyoflanguagehasestablishedcloserelationshipswithotherbranchesofsocialsciences.Thisresultsinsomeinterdisciplinarystudyoflanguage.Thestudyoflanguageasawholeisoftencalledgenerallinguistics.Thisdealswiththebasicconcepts,theories,descriptions,models,applicableinanylinguisticsstudy,incontractstothosebranchesofstudywhichrelatelinguisticstotheresearchofotherareas.Appliedlinguistics•Appliedlinguisticsservesasamediatingareawhichinterpretstheresultsoflinguistictheoriesandmakesthemuser-friendlytothelanguageteacherandlearner.•Whenthefindings,methods,ortheoreticalprinciplesoftheoreticallinguisticsareappliedtoproblemsfromotherfields(suchasanthropology,philosophy,psychology,sociology,oreducation),thisinquiryiscalledappliedlinguistics.Importantdistinctionsinlinguistics•Descriptivevsprescriptive•Synchronicvsdiachronic•Lange&parole•Competence&performanceDescriptivevsPrescriptive•Descriptiveandprescriptiverepresenttwodifferenttypesoflinguisticstudy.•Alinguisticstudyisdescriptiveifitdescribesandanalysesfactsobserved,inotherwords,whatisinlanguageuse,whatpeopleactuallysay.•Alinguisticstudyisprescriptiveifittriestolaydownrulesforcorrectbehavior,andtellspeoplewhattheyshouldsayandwhattheyshouldnotsay.•Linguisticsstudiesbeforethe20thcenturyarelargelyprescriptive.Modernlinguisticsismostlydescriptive.SynchronicandDiachronic•OriginatedbyFerdinanddeSaussure•Thedescriptionoflanguageatsomepointoftimeinhistoryissynchronicstudy.Ittakesafixedinstantasitspointofobservation.•Adiachroniclinguisticsisthestudyofalanguagethroughthecourseofitshistory.•Synchronicdescriptionsareoftenthoughtofasbei